Rio 2016: Boxing refs, judges get pulled from Olympics
By David Rouben
AIBA has dropped a number of boxing refs and judges after controversial decisions have plagued the Olympics.
The Amateur International Boxing Association (AIBA) took massive strides to improve the sport for the Rio Olympics. Most notably, it changed the scoring system to a 10-point must. But that hasn’t stopped judges from handing out questionable decisions.
The most questionable decision of came when Irish boxer Michael Conlan lost to Vladimir Nikitin despite dominating over the course of three rounds. After the fight, he unleashed his fury by flipping off the AIBA in the ring, and saying “AIBA are cheats. F***ing cheats … I’ll never box for AIBA again.”
AIBA knows the pressure is on to do something about the situation following that tirade. That’s why it released a statement claiming to have dropped a handful of refs and judges, stating “less than a handful of the decisions were not at the level expected.”
Despite Conlan’s and the AIBA’s best efforts, it is not possible to overturn any results. But if there is any silver lining for Conlan to this whole incident, it’s that he’s not alone.
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Olympic boxing has been around since 1904, and controversial decisions have been a part of it from the start. When Roy Jones Jr. lost to Park Si-Hun in Seoul in1988, allegations of bribery and favoritism were made right away. While most of the boxing world now recognizes Roy Jones’ win, he is yet to receive a gold medal.
Given how much the sport of boxing has evolved, you would think that we’d be past this. But if the fights in Rio are any indication, we are not. Conlan’s bird flip is a great metaphor for the state of Olympic boxing, and while AIBA’s decision is a step in the right direction, there’s still lots of work that needs to be done.